Spot Fixing Puts Honesty of International Players in a Spot

The cricketing fraternity was rocked by the match-fixing scandal which came to light in the early 2000. The Delhi Police revealed that many Indian and South African players were involved in match-fixing some of the eminent names among them were Hansie Cronje, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, etc. Most of the players were suspended for life and a special anti-corruption unit was set up by the ICC. 

Amir Bowling a No Ball in the 4th Test

It seemed that the days of fixed matches were gone. Then the 2010 spot-fixing controversy came to the fore. According to the News of the World release many Pakistani players had accepted bribes to provide information about some segments of the play. Information such as timing of bowling a no ball or wide within a pre-fixed time of the play were provided to the bookmaker Mazhar Majeed in return of monetary gains. Three Pakistani players namely Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were accused of the crime. The fast bowlers Asif and Amir had bowled no balls at specific balls within an over intentionally during the 4^th Test match during Pakistani cricket team’s tour of England. Undercover reporter’s videotaped a sting operation which revealed these names.

Amir (left), Butt (middle) & Asif (right) during 4th Test 

Since then a game of denial has been going on between the court of law and the accused. All the three players filed suits against the ICC in a bid to withdraw temporary suspension. But their suits have been denied by the court. In the recent hearing of the Crown Prosecution Salman Butt again labelled all the accusations against him to be false. He said he never asked the bowlers to bowl the no-balls. He said he was never in touch with Mazhar and this might be a conspiracy of other Pakistani team members. Mazhar on the otherhand has said that he was a close friend of Danish Kaneria who is already under the scanner for spot-fixing controversy in UK domestic cricket. As like others Danish too denied this comment. Mazhar also startled the court by claiming that he had access to Indian players such as Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh. But the duo joked about it and asked for the ICC to get the mental stability of Mazhar checked.

Mazhar Majeed Caught in Sting Operation

Mazhar Majeed also confessed that he was in contact with many Australian players. To this accusation the entire Australian team stood up in unison. An investigation team was set up by the CA but all the players were declared clean according to the reports. Such accusations have again posed a huge question mark on the fairness of International cricketing matches. But unlike the 2000 match-fixing controversy this recent development has not fazed much of the cricketing enthusiasts. It seems that they have taken it in their stride as long as they get good cricket to watch. But the ICC on its behalf needs to do more. The convicts should be dealt harsh punishments to set an example. Cricket or any other sports for that matter should be free from bribery and fraud.